Breakaway Introduces New Twitch Features

When we're thinking about designing our games, we're thinking beyond the core play experience - we're thinking about what people are going to do around and outside the game. That means we're thinking about what makes a game fun to watch. Fun to interact with as a viewer.

We wanted to create more ways for viewers, broadcasters and players to interact with each other on Twitch, so various teams within Amazon Game Studios are building new features that enhance the experience between players, broadcasters and viewers.

If you missed the announcement at TwitchCon, here’s a recap of the info.

Stream+

Viewers on Twitch can interact with Breakaway using Stream+, a new interactive console that allows viewers to earn loyalty points, wager their points on key moments in the game they are watching, participate in viewer polls, and move their way up a viewer loyalty point leaderboard.

When a viewer visits the Stream+ Breakaway channel (Twitch.TV/PlayBreakaway/streamplus), they will be given a starting balance of Stream+ loyalty points. They can earn additional points the longer they stay in the channel, for participating in interactive viewer polls, and for wagering their points on the outcome of Breakaway matches. The only way to get loyalty points is to engage with Stream+ on the channel, you won’t be able to exchange them with other players or purchase them with real currency.

In the future, viewers on Twitch will be able to spend their Stream+ points to unlock unique Breakaway character skins for their accounts.

Metastream

With Metastream, players and viewers have access to a real-time stats database for Breakaway, allowing broadcasters to create their own custom stat graphics and add a whole new layer of personalization to their streams.

Using any web authoring tool, broadcasters can create custom HTML5 pages to control the information, layout and behavior of each unique overlay they wish to use. Several overlays will be available for use including KDA ratios, healing, damage output, a mini-map that shows possession of the Relic, and more. Exposing these stats helps broadcasters tell the story they want to tell on their streams.

Broadcaster Spotlight

Ever play a multiplayer game and wonder if someone on the other side of the screen is streaming the match you’re in? Broadcaster Spotlight is a feature within Breakaway that will let you know when the match you are playing is being broadcast by someone in the game. You’ll know who the broadcaster is (or broadcasters, perhaps) and how many people are currently watching their stream. Now you’ll always know when to bring your A-game when battling for the Relic.

Broadcaster Match Builder

Breakaway contains a set of innovative multiplayer match building tools developed specifically for Twitch broadcasters. These tools will allow Broadcasters to invite their viewing audience to participate with them in a play session, filling in the multiplayer spots with any combination of subscribers, followers, and viewers, and then easily stream these matches. Match Builder allows Broadcasters to build a deeper relationship with their viewers and reward their most valued fans, streaming them to thousands of viewers as they play live with the broadcaster.